Project to create a lodging-type shared workshop to experience various traditional handicrafts and lifestyle, launched on “Story Funding SPIN”.

2022.07.28

Utsunomiya, who runs the dyeing and weaving studio “Utsusemi,” started a crowdfunding project on Thursday, July 7, to create a shared workshop in Higashiyoshino Village, Nara Prefecture, where visitors can stay overnight to experience handcrafts and recycling-oriented living.

The traditional Japanese way of life is a happy, cyclical life in harmony with nature.

In traditional Japan, people lived in harmony with nature in a wonderful cyclical way.
After the closure of his film company, which she ran for many years, Ms. Utsunomiya moved to Higashi-Yoshino Village, Nara Prefecture, to learn weaving techniques at a dyeing and weaving school and to do “one-to-one work”. She says that when she creates her works while receiving nature’s blessings and precious life, she feels that she is “a small part of this great nature,” which fills her with an indescribable sense of happiness and peace of mind.

We want to share the happiness and peace of mind of being one with nature.

It is an irreplaceable moment that can only be experienced by those who have experienced it. Ms. Utsunomiya thought it would be a shame to keep this feeling to herself, and decided to renovate the current workshop to provide a place to enjoy a variety of handicrafts and “clothing, food, and housing experiences” together. The workshop is a place where people can enjoy a variety of handicrafts and experience “clothing, food, and shelter.

A workshop that also offers overnight accommodations, allowing visitors to experience a lifestyle in harmony with nature.
In the field beside the workshop and in the hills behind the workshop, plants are cultivated and planted to produce yarn and dyes for herb dyeing, creating a recycling-oriented experience of “using while growing.
In addition to the yarn-making, herb-dyeing, and weaving experiences offered to date, creators from various fields living in Okuyamato will be invited to provide a place where people from inside and outside the village can interact with each other.

Higashi-Yoshino Village is a “creative village” where many creators gather. Since craftspeople, designers, and architects are working nearby, we aim to collaborate with them and create a workshop where they can share their experiences.

Crowdfunding Project Overview

I want to create an overnight shared workshop in the forests of Eshinu (Yoshino), where people can experience living in harmony with nature and handiwork!

Recruitment period: July 7, 2022-October 10, 2022
Usage: Share workshop production cost, accommodation cost
Total target: 2.4 million yen
Return: Seasonal herb dyeing workshop tickets, esinu gift certificates, kimono or obi made by yourself, kimono or obi custom-made from threads, lodging coupons, etc.

>Click here for the project URL

Project initiator: Hiroko Utsunomiya of Utsusemi, a dyeing and weaving studio

After graduating from Hiroshima University, joined a department store in Tokyo. Engaged in developing communication media with customers. In order to deepen his knowledge in this field, she decided to study at NYU at the age of 29 and went to New York. While living between Osaka and Tokyo, he encountered Hong Kong films and started his own film company. Later, after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the issue of the Senkaku Islands, she closed his film company. In November 2017, she moved to Higashi-Yoshino Village and opened a dyeing and weaving studio, “Utsusemi”.

>Dyeing and weaving studio “Utsusemi” official website

New

New

Featured articles

Hiroshima

Art

The Most Beautiful Museum in the World: Simose Art Museum Wins UNESCO’s Prestigious Versailles Prize!

--

Food

[ Kimuraya (department store)]Snowman’ is available only during the Christmas period. Japanese Stollen, made with traditional sake-type dough and Japanese ingredients, is on sale again this year.

December sees the arrival of a number of Christmas breads. The Snowman with his cute smiling face is a sweet loaf with two different flavours: pudding cream and chocolate cream. It is a heartwarming treat with flavours that both children and adults can enjoy.

Also back this year is the popular Japanese Stollen, which was a big hit last year. This is a special cake that can only be tasted at Kimuraya, using Japanese-inspired ingredients such as persimmons, figs and koshi-an (sweet bean paste). Please take this opportunity to try Kimuraya’s limited edition Christmas bread.

Hiroshima

Art

ZIPANGU Contemporary artists who have run through the Heisei era” Takashi Murakami x Sueo Mizuma dialogue: ‘Beyond the Theory of Artistic Entrepreneurship’ / Interview with Mr. Mizuma: ‘Rediscovering the Value of Japanese Culture by the Japanese People

The Hiroshima Museum of Art is hosting the exhibition “ZIPANGU: Contemporary Artists Who Defined the Heisei Era” (November 2, 2024 – December 22, 2024). This showcase brings together works by some of the most prominent figures in Japan’s contemporary art scene, including Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami, Makoto Aida, Yoshitomo Nara, Chiharu Shiota, Izumi Kato, Akira Yamaguchi, and Miwa Komatsu. The exhibition has already garnered significant attention, exceeding 10,000 visitors.

HYAKKEI covered the dialogue between contemporary artist Takashi Murakami and Sueo Mizuma, the curator of this exhibition, held at the RIHGA Royal Hotel Hiroshima. We also conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Mizuma.

The discussions centered on the aspirations behind the ZIPANGU exhibition and offered forward-looking insights, not only into Japan’s art world but also into the rediscovery of value within Japanese culture by its people.

Hiroshima

Travel

Culture

Two types of autumn-only red seals, ‘Chrysanthemum and Tanzaku’ and ‘Autumn Leaves and Candles’, are now available at Daisho-in Temple, Miyajima, a World Heritage island.

Two types of paper seals made exclusively for autumn, ‘Chrysanthemum and Tanzaku’ and ‘Autumn Leaves and Candles’, have been available since Monday 9 September at Daisho-in Temple on the World Heritage island of Miyajima. Quantities are limited and will run out as soon as they are gone.

Pick Up

Pick Up